Despite the absence of their captain, Joao Monteiro, Nigerian table tennis stars, Aruna Quadri and Bode Abiodun were at their best to ensure Sporting win their fourth title in a row after retaining the Portuguese Super Cup at the expense of ADC Ponta do Pargo.

Having lost their opener in the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League away to Borussia Dusseldorf, Sporting’s trio of Aruna Quadri, Diogo Carvalho and Bode Abiodun checkmated ADC Ponta do Pargo to retain the Portuguese Super Cup for the fourth time in a row.

Sporting were on the losing side away to Borussia Dusseldorf in the ETTU Champions opener but the Portuguese sidelined up Quadri, Diogo Carvalho and Abiodun against ADC Ponta do Pargo in the encounter held at the Municipal Pavilion of Nespereira, in Cinfães.

It was a re-energised Quadri who started the onslaught for Sporting with a 3-1 (7-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-9) bashing of Énio Mendes, Carvalho increased the lead for Sporting with a convincing 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3) win over Sahed Idowu. Abiodun completed the rout for Sporting with a 3-0 (14-12, 11-5, 11-5) victory over Vítor Amorim.

Being the fourth year in a row that Quadri and Abiodun will be lifting the trophy with Sporting and the Lisbon-based team continues to erase their own record having won the title for 13th time more than any team in Portugal.

For Quadri, the win serves as a good preparation for this week’s ETTU Champions League tie at home to Czech Republic’s TTC Ostrava.

“We are indeed looking forward to the Champions League match on October 11 at home and we hope that this win will give us the needed motivation to do well against the visiting Czech side.

“Despite losing the first match away to the defending champion, we are still hopeful that we can make it from the group but I must also admit that we missed the presence of our captain, Joao Monteiro who is yet to recover from the injury he had before the start of the European Championships in Alicante, Spain. I am confident that we can do well against the visitors when we clash this week in Lisbon,” Quadri said.

Sitting at the bottom of Group A of the Champions League, which has defending champion – Germany’s Borussia Dusseldorf and former champion, France’s AS Pontoise Cergy, Sporting hopes to rediscover their form which saw them making it to the semifinal in their maiden outing in the lucrative league (Channels TV)